Refugees housed Bibione

Italy - Bibione (Venice). Marine colony Pio XIII. Built after the war for the families of Pirelli employees, it is now used as a welcome centre for the refugees from the Libyan war. Coming from Gambia and Nigeria some of them try to obtain the official status of refugee. The details of the asylum applications are examined by a commission which on average emits a negative decision in 90% of cases.

Italy - Bibione (Venice). Marine colony Pio XIII. Foday Ceesay, 25 years old. He flees from Gambia in 2007 after he and a member of his family are threatened by exponents of the opposition party. He spends five months in prison in Libya where he then starts work as a carpenter. At the beginning of the war his father is killed during the disturbances in Tripoli while he himself manages to get to the port and onto a boat sailing to Lampedusa. “When the war broke out I thought Gheddaffi would stay in power, but then it became clear that this would not be the case and I decided to leave.” 90% of the asylum applications presented to the commission are judged to be false.

Italy - Bibione (Venice). Marine colony Pio XIII. Helen, 26 years old, Nigerian. She has always lived with her grandmother and never met her parents. In 2010 shed decides to leave for Libya with her husband. She works as a hair-dresser in Misrata until the war breaks out. They flee towards Tripoli crossing the desert on foot and she loses her husband when he gets on a different boat from her. She is pregnant and due to give birth in just a few weeks.. D: “Why do you think the Libyans gave you the boats: out of charity?”. R: “The Libyans? Because they didn’t want to keep the coloured people. They don’t like them, they have a habit of killing black people”. “I thank God that I’m safe and sound and can give life to my child”.

Italy - Bibione (Venice). Marine colony Pio XIII. Fatima, Nigerian. She has worked in Liby with her husband since 2006. In December e 2010 her fifteen-year-old daughter Temitope joins her after a 3-week journey across the Sahara. In April, right in the middle of the war, her husband, who has heart problems, dies, and she decides to leave Misrata with her daughter and make for Tripoli on a refugee truck. “The day we left there were lots of bombings. There people in the street, all running, so we decided to take the few belongings we could grab. Two bags. And everybody runs for themselves”.

Italy - Bibione (Venice). Marine colony Pio XIII. Benedict and Idemudia are brother and sister from Nigeria. They were both enrolled at university, respectively business school and political sciences. After their parents’ deaths they leave and settle in Misrata. Idemudia marries a fellow Nigerina in January 2011. When the bombings intensify they decide to go to the beach in Misrata and get on one of the many boats that were heading for Italy.. “When the revolution broke out in Tunisia and then in Egypt we didn’t think it would get this far. We were sure that Gheddaffi would prevent any kind of uprising. Instead it started and in Misrata in a brutal fashion”.

Italy - Bibione (Venice). Marine colony Pio XIII. Foday Ceesay, 25, studies Italian grammar before his interview with the commission that will decide upon his repatriation. He flees from Gambia in 2007 after being threatened, with a relative, by members of the opposition party. He spends 5 months in prison in Libya where he then starts work as a carpenter. At the beginning of the war his father is killed during the disturbances in Tripoli while he himself manages to get to the port and onto a boat sailing to Lampedusa. “When the war broke out I thought Gheddaffi would stay in power, but then it became clear that this would not be the case and I decided to leave.” 90% of the asylum applications presented to the commission are judged to be false.

Italy - Bibione (Venice). Marine colony Pio XIII. Jalamang Fatty is from Gambia and had been in Libya since 2002, where he worked in the building trade. Saved by Ghedaffi’s soldiers in an area that was under attack from the rebel forces, he boards a boat in Tripoli. "The documents are my life, they say I am a good man and not a criminal. I trust my documents … I arrived in Italy and managing to save my documents, managing to save my life”.

Italy - Bibione (Venice). Marine colony Pio XIII. A guest of the structure warms up before a football match.

Italy - Bibione (Venice). Marine colony Pio XIII. A group of guests of the colony prepares for the daily football match.